Friday, September 6, 2013

Horrific To Terriffic; Sox Blow It, Stow It, 9-8

(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

In a matter of minutes this one went from the worst loss of the year to one of the most satisfying wins. The Red Sox blew a 7-2 lead in the seventh inning, only to tie it 8-8 in the ninth against Mariano Rivera and win it in the tenth against Joba 'The Mutt' Chamberlain. A two-out single by Mike Napoli got it started in the ninth—and new pinch-runner Quintin Berry did his best Dave Roberts imitation by stealing second and winding up on third. Stephen Drew (doing his best Bill Mueller imitation) brought him home. Shane Victorino sliced a base hit to right with two outs in the tenth plating Jacoby Ellsbury with the winning tally in a nerve-wracking 9-8 win at The Concrete Bunker On 161st Street. The big lead was built up early with key contributions by Victorino (HR) and Will Middlebrooks (HR). Multiple hit games came from David Ortiz, Middlebrooks, Napoli and Ryan Lavarnway. Matt Thornton and Junichi Tazawa frittered away the big lead in the seventh, but Craig Breslow stemmed the tide. Rivera has now blown 15 saves against Boston in his career—the most against any team. The Carmine Hose have now won 10 of their last 12 and have just 20 games left in the season. This was a big one.

JIMMY FUND/SOX PLATE

FN ARCHIVE

FOLLOW BY EMAIL

SEARCH FENWAYNATION

FN MEMBERSHIPS

CC—2016 FenwayNation.com—except Red Sox logo used in accordance with the Fair Use provision (section 107) of U.S. Copyright Act. This website is not affiliated with the Boston Red Sox, Major League Baseball or any other organization. Opinions expressed by FN columnists are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the full FN Board. Most game photos courtesy of the Associated Press, Getty Images and/or Reuters (unless otherwise attributed).